No Last Minute Trips Anymore?????

[cncDisney4]

My DH and I decided to try for a last minute trip to WDW since SWA came out with a good DING for our area. Ha!! Absolutely no availability in ANY of the resorts for a studio or 1 BR. Oh well, we're going in June but thought we would try for a short trip now.

Have any of you, who have had DVC for a long time, noticed a change in availability? We've been with DVC since October 2005. I'm not really complaining since I'm scheduled for 4 trips in 2008 already ... just wanted another quick one.

Cheryl

 

[mbrowninc]

What dates were you trying for? We got 1br for 1/8 & 1/9 just yesterday at VWL.

 

[cncDisney4]

I thought I was open about the dates. I started with 1/27 to 2/2 and tried 1/20 to 1/26. I then tried for the beginning of February but we couldn't get consecutive days at any resort.

I'm going to try again next week ... you never know.

Cheryl

 

[mbrowninc]

Yes try again you never know what might open up!

 

[tjkraz]

While I have no evidence to support this, over the 5+ years I've been following DVC, members appear to be booking earlier and earlier all the time.

Also, DVC has been running a LOT of promotions over the last 12 months that give members bonus "developer's points." I assume there is some consideration taken so that the number of points available does not exceed the number of accommodations. But DVC's use of Developer's Points on this scale is quite unprecedented and is undeniably impacting resort availability.

 

[hematite153]

You might wish to put in a waitlist...specify that you need to have consecutive nights...we had one come through on very short notice last year.

However, with the dates you are looking at, I suspect the lack of availability is due to AKV construction issues. They were initially ahead of schedule and changed their schedule, thereby releasing rooms for booking. But, although they are still ahead of their first schedule, they now seem to be behind their revised schedule.

We got moved from AKV to SSR for the end of Jan and I know of at least one other person who frequents these boards who was also moved out of AKV. I assume that these moves have taken up any available spaces.

 

[Dean]

While I have no evidence to support this, over the 5+ years I've been following DVC, members appear to be booking earlier and earlier all the time.

While there may not be concrete proof that we average members have access to, there is plenty of evidence that this is correct and that shorter term reservation are becoming more difficult. That includes at the 7 months window to a degree as well though those that play the game and put an effort into it will often be successful.

 

[cncDisney4]

Thanks for the responses and they are all great explainations. I'll just keep an eye on the airfare and maybe it will work out. We normally plan our trips very early ... waiting until mid January to book Christmas trip ... but while it would be nice to plan a "spur of the moment" trip, I guess everyone else has to use their points too.

Thanks again!

Cheryl

 

[JimMIA]

I'll try this again -- the DIS did a hiccup last time.

I think tjkraz and Dean nailed it above. However, you can still have short term success.

Both of my daughters routinely book within two months of arrival, and they usually have good results. Most recently, they got a 1 BR at OKW for Jan 18-20 on December 6, and a 1 BR at SSR for Feb 15-18 on Dec 20.

They have a good deal of flexibility because we all live in Miami and just drive up to WDW, and the fact that they are usually looking for at least one Friday or Saturday night (often both) helps I'm sure.

 

[CarolAnnC]

January 21 is Martin Luther King Day so that would account for lack of availability the week before and week after.

 

[stacy6552]

We made 2 short notice trips last year. We got studios both times, but I think our choice as to resort was limited.

 

[cncDisney4]

Yea, I think it's the luck of the draw. We're open to any resort at this point since it's so spontaneous.

I know there are cancellations all the time since the reason we are doing this quick trip is that we cancelled our December cruise and WDW stay about two weeks before we were to leave. My dad was diagnosed with colon cancer and had surgery scheduled for a day that was right in the middle of the cruise ... a no brainer there ... we cancelled. He's really had a rough time. He came home for about a week and then was back in the hospital for 10 days (during his birthday and Christmas ). The good news is that he's bouncing back beautifully now.

I'll just hope for some pixie dust next week when I check again and if it's not possible ... well, we'll both be there in May and just look forward to that trip all the more.

Cheryl

 

[Goofy's apprentice]

We've had good success a relatively short booking times. The second week of december just past we booked both for the second week of January and the last part of January. I even called back a few times to rearrange and get a few nights at VWL (which we haven't stayed at yet)

Availability was limited but we managed to come up with spots and are looking forward to it!

 

[stacy6552]

 

[tomandrobin]

we have success on several occassions the past two years.

 

[carolinadj]

Here's what I don't understand. I was told there's no availability at OKW for the two days I want to book in February. However, when my brother called to book the same size room as a non-member paying cash, he was told there WAS availability. What gives??

 

[tjkraz]

Here's what I don't understand. I was told there's no availability at OKW for the two days I want to book in February. However, when my brother called to book the same size room as a non-member paying cash, he was told there WAS availability. What gives??

Happens frequently.

In a nutshell, when DVC members use their points anywhere outside of the 8 DVC resorts, the ripple effect is that their points are used to set-aside DVC villas which are sold to cash customers. That process is the only way to facilitiate our ability to use points at Disneyland resorts, Disney Cruise Line, Polynesian, or any other non-DVC destination (except Interval resorts.)

Disney isn't doing anything inappropriate here. It's all part of the system we bought into.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Here's what I don't understand. I was told there's no availability at OKW for the two days I want to book in February. However, when my brother called to book the same size room as a non-member paying cash, he was told there WAS availability. What gives??

You also could get the same room at OKW paying cash to CRO if you like. You just can't use your points on that room. Someone else already did.

 

[justloveit]

We just booked a last minute trip for Jan 24 - 28 on Sat. We were looking for a 1 BR and were told we would have to split the stay, no availability for consecutive nights anywhere. However there was a 2 BR available at SSR and that was all, not even a studio. And we were told it was the only 2BR they had. So we took it! But we are concerned about this lack of availability at the slowest time of the year! The theory on the developers points makes sense. Sorry to hear you missed your ding fare.

 

[dclfun]

I have been lucky I guess with the waitlist for last minute availability. I was able to get SSR ( not my favorite but at that point it didn't matter) w/in two weeks of arrival this past December. I filled out the request online for two different sets of dates and got them both. Of course if there's airfare involved it's a different story- those of us that are driving have it much easier since we can be flexible.---Kathy